


Of fog and thunder

by devs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: But there is plot I promise, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Pining, Slow Burn, Top Remus Lupin, and they include seduction of your friends, because how could he not be, werewolves habits, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 10:02:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devs/pseuds/devs
Summary: Sirius changed during last summer, sure, but so did others. With Remus it was spectacular. He was more self conscious and careless. He still was the quietest of them all, but now the silence was often filled with - how to describe it? - potential of a danger. Like a storm coming close.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Of fog and thunder

**Author's Note:**

> It was written for a prompt: Remus is openly gay (and not so secretly a werewolf) which makes Sirius a little jealous and a lot in need. They are almost seventeen here, so.  
> I do not support JKR transphobic views, this is a safe space.

Morning came cold.

In an instant, Sirius remembered other autumn mornings, years ago: impatient voice of his mother, shivers, bare foots on the floor, hardly warm water from under the shower. Sometimes he asked her to warm it with a spell, but the answer was always the same - when he grows up and gets a wand, when he proves himself, that's when he'll be in power to make things into his liking. Before that happens, he is in favour of hers. And she did like cold showers; it sharpens one's thoughts, she said.

Sirius let the memory slip away. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them, as he exhaled. Good. All was good now.

He opened the curtains - others were still asleep, it must have been minutes after dawn - and quietly got out of the bed. He took out a narrow, navy blue ribbon from his bedside cabinet and tied up his hair. Well - it was exaggerated statement, as his hair was only half the length they used to be before last summer. Dark and shiny, they were barely reaching above his chin now. His fingers hurt a little from the cold, joints aching dull. He tried to pump more blood into them, stretching and closing into a fist.

The bun was a mess anyway, single waves on a runaway front the ribbon, and he knew that. Not that he was to be seen in such a disgrace; maybe his graphite, satin pyjamas was up to expectations, but warm sleeping socks he borrowed from Remus made him look spectacularly disastrous. They were orange, for Merlin's sake.

Sirius looked for his bag and took out a pack of cigarettes.

On their main desk, there was already herd of mugs. It was Peter's idea, really. He talked with house elves and – no one knows how, exactly - persuaded them to make a set of drinks for them every weekend before the late breakfast. It was a tradition now: each of them would grab his own and they would sit on one or two beds, drinking warm tea or coffee, just talking about last week and their plans for weekend.

Sirius took his cup with macchiato, no sugar, and walked over to the bathroom. He didn't want to wake the others just yet, and he badly needed to open a window to humour himself with a fag. He thought about casting a simple warming spell, but decided otherwise. Demons were better served cold.

He lighted a cigarette with his wand and inhaled the smoke. It looked almost as if he was breathing the fog that was layered outside the castle; dense and wet. It was hurting his eyes with unusual lightness, similar to snow blindness in a blizzard. And it was only October, no snow for another few weeks - only rain and more fog. He thought about the snow, how it will cover everything, freeze the lake and bring a pleasant pain to their lungs.

Sirius was slowly calming down. Others wouldn't be able to tell the difference - maybe expect Remus - but he felt each muscle in his back slowly untying itself. Mother was locked again in the cellar of his mind.

Maybe it will be a good day, after all.

*******

After the breakfast, professor Dumbledore asked Remus to come with him to the headmaster's office. James and Peter exchanged worried looks with Sirius, but said nothing.

'What was that?' Peter asked, when Remus and Dumbledore left. Chocolate frog he forgot about was melting through his fingers, trying to jump away, looking like the effect of a painful spell. It was disgusting.

'Probably more boring prefect's stuff, don't worry, Pete' James said, but Sirius noticed that he, too, saw Lily on the other side of the table. She wasn't asked with Remus.

'Yeah, let's go back to the tower. He'll gets there when he gets there' Sirius said.

But he didn't.

*******

After two and a half chess games, smoking five cigarettes and re-reading his old Circus magazine, Sirius has had enough.

 _'Expecto patronum'_ he said, and a silver dog appeared in front of their beds. 'Go find Re, I need him" Sirius asked. Dog barked and jumped around, as if he wanted to play, and then disappeared through the dormitory doors.

'Wasn't that a little... overreacting?" James asked. He was sitting on the floor, trying to master _Appare Vestigium_ , but the golden powder vanished before it showed any signs of magic usage.

'We both know he's not at the perfect's meeting' Sirius replied, 'It's been hours now, what if something bad happened? Besides, I do need him. I'm bored out of my-'

Door opened and Remus went inside with a terror in his eyes.

'Sirius?! Sirius, are you- oh. You are all right' he said. Peter waved to him happily from his bed. Remus ignored him and walked straight to Sirius's bed.

'Can you please explain to me why the hell you sent a patronus to the common room as if you were dying up here?' he asked.

'Common- what? You were downstairs?'

Remus smiled ugly, showing him teeth. Irritation.

Sirius changed during last summer, sure, but so did others. With Remus it was spectacular. He was more self conscious and careless. They knew he was gay long before, of course, but now he casually flirted with others like it was nothing and - Sirius couldn't help but noticed - sometimes it was a single sentence whispered in someone ear to made them fall for him. Not that he dated anyone long term, as far as Sirius could tell.

He still was the quietest of them all, but now the silence was often filled with - how to describe it? - potential of a danger. Like a storm coming close.

Now, Remus was standing in front of them, thunders building inside. It made Sirius feels electric from head to toes.

'Why didn't you come up here, Moons? Was there someone better to spend hours with than me?' he asked.

Remus tilted his head. His smile changed into something nasty.

'Oh, why yes, there really was' he said. 'You'll find out anyway, so. We have a visiting professor in training. He asked Dumbledore for someone to help him with the studies and I volunteered.'

'The fuck' Sirius said surprised, 'are you talking about?'

'What studies?' James asked at the same time, standing up from the floor. Golden dust was stuck to his cheek, unnoticed.

'Creatures against dark arts' Remus replied, and then 'I was showing him around the castle.'

'Showing off, you mean' Sirius said.

'Pardon?'

Sirius was about to answer, but James came in between them with raised hands.

'Boys, easy' he said, 'We'd be more than happy to meet this new guy. If Remus liked him-'

'Re would like a mute golem if given a chance, that's not much of a recommendation' Sirius snorted.

'More than happy. But I need to talk with Sirius first, so maybe you two will go downstairs and we'll meet you there in a minute?' James offered.

When they left, he sat next to Sirius and asked, 'What was that about?'

Sirius sighed. He wasn’t sure.

'I got a bad feeling about this. Remus himself is a dark creature and now he’ll show around an expert in monsterology? Why Dumbledore even let him? It can't end well' he said.

'You're lucky Remus didn't hear you.'

'I know. He would kill me for the pet name.'

James grinned.

*******

Common room was loud and full of people. Remus, Peter and visiting-someone were sitting on the couch by the fireplace. Peter listened to them in awe, as Remus was explaining something, leaning forward to the stranger.

He must have been only six, maybe seven years older. Sirius imagined someone well built earlier - you need to be strong to tame the creatures, right? - but was mistaken. This guy was rather slim, his muscles better suited for a runner then a wrestler. His skin was few tones lighter than Remus's, his hair dark chocolate next to Remus's honey. They both, more or less, matched in scars, Sirius noticed.

'Hello there' James said, as they came closer. 'My name's James Potter and I'm friend of Remus.'

'Nice to meet you, James Potter, the friend of Remus' stranger said, grinning. Sirius disliked that. 'I'm Jade.'

'Isn't it a girl name?' Sirius said, before he could stop himself.

Jade let out a chuckle. 'Unisex, really.'

'Did you know' Remus said a little louder, 'that it is believed jade stones are good for a pain? You just need to place them on a one's belly.'

Sirius rolled his eyes.

'And Chinese wizards often asks to be buried in a jade coffins, tradition says it would make them live on forever' Jade said.

'May I bury myself into you as well?' Remus teased. 

James laughed and poked Remus in the arm, while Peter got all red. Jade just took a sip of his firewhiskey and said nothing. Sirius disliked that as well.

'I need a smoke' he said, turning around.

'What's your name again?' Jade asked after him.

'I haven't told you yet' Sirius replied and walked away. He didn’t care it was childish. He stopped by the window, opened it just a little - how it could get this much colder in just few hours, for Merlin's sake - and lighted a fag.

Others looked oddly from the distance: there were four of them, correct, and the forth one had dark hair matched with pale skin, also correct. Nevertheless, it wasn't right. Jade put his arm behind Remus and he leaned back into him, no hesitation.

Something barbed twisted in Sirius's guts.

He took a long drag and let out the smoke. Outside, the fog was getting thicker.

*******

Jade stayed until before the dinnertime; then he excused himself with 'I think I should meet some real professors as well, boys. Later, Remus'.

At this point, Sirius hated him with his whole heart.

Peter was impressed. 'I didn't realized you know so much about dark arts' he said, when Jade left the common room, 'I mean, you two talked liked regular academics, you almost completed each other sentences.'

Sirius snorted. Ignoring the begging gaze from James, he barked, 'It wasn't academic, it was vulgar picking up with a little help of curiosities about ancient magic.'

Remus leaned closer to him, almost touching. He smelled sweet and spicy, like an oriental souvenir.

'You know what? I've had enough. Go insult someone else, as it seems it's all you can do' Remus said, instead of kissing him - which was Sirius first thought.

'I'll be somewhere else, don't patronus me again, please' he added and left the room. James slowly applauded his exodus and then asked Peter to accompany him to the dinner.

'I'm not hungry' Sirius said unasked, fetching another cigarette. Why did he think about kissing Remus anyway?

*******

Evening passed. James went on a walk with Lily, they played Exploding Snaps with Peter and two of them ate a chocolate cake while listening to the Led Zeppelin borrowed from some Ravenclaw girl.

Sirius ignored them most of the time.

Well after midnight - James was probably in the astronomy tower and not alone; Peter felt asleep with book and curtains open - Sirius decided to wait some more, but in more pleasant surroundings.

He closed the curtains of Peter’s bed and gently put silencing spell on them, which was supposed to wear off in eight hours. Then he went into the bathroom and filled the tube with hot water. He didn't close the door. James didn’t care, anyway, and Sirius didn’t want to miss Remus coming back.

He considered bubbles for a moment, but then decided against it and put in some bath salt instead. It was Peter's and smelled like coconut; water changed colour into milky white.

Like this damn fog, Sirius thought, and a shiver came across his back.

He undressed and went inside, water covering him up to collarbones. Finally, something warm. Sirius took a deep breath and leaned back, diving into the white. He stayed underwater for almost two minutes, until his lungs began to ache. And fifteen seconds more. It cleared his mind a little.

There was something wrong with Jade. He seemed to care about others, but it not always matched the look on his face. He was intelligent, but sometimes let Remus correct him on things he should know in the first place.

He kept his gaze fixed on Remus too long.

It wasn't the flirting, not entirely. Sirius didn't have sharpened werewolf senses, but Remus should have known something's odd.

Dormitory's door opened quietly. Not James, then. Sirius suddenly realized it might not be the best idea to meet Remus naked and in bath, but there was no time.

'Moons?' he asked, looking for a towel. Damn. 'Moons, come here.'

Remus entered the bathroom and leaned against the wall in front of Sirius.

'Yeah?' he asked lazily, playing with almost empty bottle of butterbeer. Sharpness from before was gone.

'Moons' Sirius repeated, 'How are you?'

Remus chuckled and came closer. He sat on the rim of the bathtub and tugged loose, wet curl behind Sirius's ear. It tickled, but Sirius fought the urge to scratch the skin.

'Why do you need to be such an arse sometimes?' Remus asked gently. 'Is this an invitation? May I come in?'

'What? I mean- I'll get out in a minute, will you pass me a towel?'

It was not like they have never shared a bath before, but last time they did, it was almost five years ago. They were kids.

Remus hesitated for a moment, but then stood up and gave him the towel. He didn't turn around, so Sirius just went out of the bath and dried himself. He put on pants and black jeans - his pyjama was in the bed, forgotten, and it sound stupid just imaging he could _accio_ it - and looked up. Just then, he noticed a golden feather in Remus' hair, tucked above his ear.

'What's that?' he asked.

'A thunderbird's feather. It is sensitive to danger and- it was funny when Jade couldn't tell why on earth does it act so weird when close to me. Apparently, I am danger' Remus said proudly.

'Of course you are' Sirius respondent without a thought, 'but if you'd asked me, I would say it was dangerous to you too. What if he finds out who you are?' Sirius asked.

'I think that's the main reason Dumbledore wanted me to help him' Remus said, suddenly serious.

'The fuck?! That's irresponsible as hell, who knows on which side is this stupid, pompous twat? What if he hurts you?'

'He's not. Dumbledore trusts him and that's enough for me. Maybe if he learns more about werewolves, he'll be able to persuade other we are not untamed beasts. We need allies.'

'And you let yourself be used as his pet werewolf to accomplish that?' Sirius spat angrily. Something in Remus changed; he stood straight, more steadily, like if preparing to fight.

'I don't think that was what you wanted to say' he growled.

'That’s exactly what I wanted to say.'

It was seconds: Remus came closer, pushed him against the bathroom wall, pressing his body to Sirius's.

'Don't you dare talking like that to me' he said coldly.

'Oh' Sirius gasped, 'so you two already fucked? Did he let you pin him like that?'

Remus grabbed Sirius’s wrists and lifted them up above his head. He closed both in one hand, and placed the other on his throat. He made a smooth move with his hips, rocking against Sirius's crotch.

'Like that' Remus said. 'And it was good. He begged.'

Sirius was breathing hard now. He didn't try to free himself; there was no point in trying. Remus could break him in seconds, if he wanted to.

'I don't think it was, if he let you go, wanting more' Sirius said under his breath. He wasn't sure what's happening - that is, he knew how he parted his legs and let Remus press into him, but it came from somewhere far away, almost not from inside his head. 

Remus's hand was warm against his neck; he swallowed and felt the fingers pressing a little harder. His arms stared to ache, but the pain was welcomed. It was something better to feel that this dead cold fog which followed him the whole day.

He was getting hard, which should be embarrassing, but somehow wasn't. He was desperate for more.

Sirius pushed and heard a surprised, quiet moan. He wasn't sure which of them made it.

'You little tease' Remus said. He kissed Sirius in the corner of the mouth and said, 'I don't fuck with friends.'

And ten, he left.

*******

After jerking off furiously in his bed, sleeping, waking up from a nightmare, sleeping and waking up again, it was Sunday. Sirius woke up with a feeling he broke something, and then he remembered last night.

He ate late breakfast alone; others were sitting a few metres further, with Jade amongst them. It almost made Sirius think they are complete without him. They laughed and stole each other’s food, while Remus was explaining something, gesturing with a fork in his hand.

Sirius wanted to ask them what was so funny, but even in his head it sounded grumpy. He ate in silence and was just about to leave, when James came to him.

'You all right? We are going for a walk to the forest, professor Hugo wants to see if there are any signs of centaurs near. He said he would help me with my _Appare Vestigium_.'

'Looking for centaurs this early in the morning? I wouldn't bother... And Hugo seems like a fake surname, really.'

James looked around. 

'Listen' he said, 'I thought about what you said earlier. You might be right, there's something off with this bloke. Come with us, I don't want to leave Remus alone with him.'

'I bet Remus would want just that' Sirius said, but agreed.

*******

When they entered Foreign Forest, it went silent. Sirius knew there are many eyes observing them from behind the trees, but said nothing. They walked deeper inside and into the damn fog. It seems as if it was alive, swallowing them whole.

'Do you have any wolves here?' Jade asked. Sirius almost tripped over the root.

'Why do you ask?' Remus replied lightly.

'Well, the forest acts as if some predators were here. Not centaurs, not- intelligent ones?'

Sirius snorted.

'I mean' Jade said, 'with a herd of centaurs there's not much space for others. You might have some acromantulas here, sure, but nothing more. Expect wolves.'

Remus put his hands in the pockets. He was considering something, Sirius realized. Terror rose inside him.

'What about werewolves?' Remus asked. Peter took a deep breath and James slowed down to align with Sirius. He took out his wand.

'Werewolves would need somewhere to live between the full moons' Jade said carefully. 'It doesn't seem as if there was such place. Castle is protected, right?'

Sirius went dizzy from adrenaline. How could Remus walk alongside this guy with such a nerve?

'You think they would build a human nest in the forest?' Remus asked, cheerfully.

'Well, I saw them do it. They are pack animals, they need to stay with others. It's not like you can have a lone wolf just casually live amongst human. They would hurt this way, always alone.'

Sirius wanted to correct him, but James grabbed him by the arm and hushed. Peter was already green on the face, as if he could vomit any time soon.

'Consider this: what if a cub stays with his human parents and then just makes a pack out of regular people?' Remus asked.

'He would tear them down during the first moon.'

'A wizarding parents, then.'

Jade looked at him, puzzled. 'Even if they found a way to tame him, it would backfire sooner or later. Have you heard about the werewolves of London? There was a pack some twenty years ago, a registered one. Some of them even found simple jobs, but after so many huntings, wizards just catch them one after another and put them down. It was better this way then let Muggles put on an ordinary investigation.'

Remus went silent.

'You are wrong' Sirius said, suddenly. 'They are more human than wizarding word is brave to admit. How could they put then down like dogs? They are- They are people, for Merlin's sake.'

'Easy, I'm not racist, I'm just telling you how the world works. Sirius' Jade said, turning around. 'Or do you want to show me otherwise?' he added, his gaze settled at him.

Oh.

'Headmaster told me I might found here more than I wished for. Will you prove him right?' Jade asked. He opened his bag took out a wooden box. As he opened it, the fog changed into dark mist. It was hard to see further than few meters. Sirius cursed under his breath. Above them, a full moon appeared.

Remus looked at it, but didn’t seem to be scared. ‘That’s a boggart’ he said calmly, and walked in between them. 'Sirius is not a werewolf' he added, 'and you should be very careful with whatever you want to say next.'

They stood in line, wand in their hands. Sirius couldn't even remember at what point did he took out his own. Professor Hugo looked at them in awe.

'Beautiful, just as I thought' he said. James rose up his wand. Fake moon flickered.

'When one from the pack, the dear one, is in danger, an alpha would stand for him. And so you did, Remus' Jade turned to him, smiling. He waved at the boggart, which now turned into a dozen of bottles with clear liquid, crashing at their feet. James picked up a shard of glass with a sticker on it, but at the same time, Jade said _riddikulus_. His boggart changed into squeaking fox. He laughed and the creature disappeared.

'You can rest now. I'm not more threat to any of you than this childish demon’ Jade said.

Remus reconsidered it and after a minute made a gesture to calm the others. When James and Peter lowered their wands, Jade titled his head and pointed at Sirius.

'Curious. You won't listen to him, won't you?'

'Stop talking to us like an animal documentary' Sirius hissed.

'All right, sorry’ Jade sighed. He almost, almost sounded sincere.

‘I meant it, everything I said. I won't harm any of you. I came here to learn from you. One doesn’t have many opportunities to observe werewolves behaviour amongst other people. I want to understand, so we can- we can work on socialization them with others. To help parents like yours, Remus’ Jade said. 'And I need your permission to do so' he added after a while.

Sirius already knew what Remus's answer would be.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated and comments are love, thank you!


End file.
